ABSTRACT
An enormous and varied amount of information useful to social scientists is published by different branches of government. As well as Parliamentary debates, Green Papers, White Papers, Bills and Acts, government departments regularly issue reports and publish research. Mention of a few of the topics covered in official publications in recent years, chosen more or less at random, will suffice to indicate the wide range of matters encompassed: abortion, accidents, acid rain, AIDS, birds, chat lines, community care, company investigations, computers, cowboys, discrimination, drugs, education, environment, health, Hong Kong, legal services, local government, modern languages, nature conservation, official secrets, planning policy, remote sensing, sentencing, summer time, vandalism and wildlife. The purpose of this chapter is to provide a guide to the bibliographic sources that will help you find material relevant to your research. Of course, different libraries have different resources and are organized in different ways. Nonetheless what follows should provide you with sufficient information to begin your search.
